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How does a film aficionado convince people to go to a movie that doesn't offer the easy escape of a blockbuster? NPR's Renee Montagne talks to Los Angeles Times and film critic Kenneth Turan about his new book, Never Coming to a Theater Near You.

NPR's Scott Simon talks to Lawrence Weschler about his new collection of essays Vermeer in Bosnia. Weschler's topics range from the war crimes trials in Bosnia to the unique quality of light in the paintings of Johannes Vermeer, and in Los Angeles.

Novelist Alan Hollinghurst is awarded this year's prestigious Man Booker Prize. Hollinghurst won for The Line of Beauty, the first gay-themed novel to win the British literary honor in its 36-year history. Hear NPR's Renee Montagne and Rebecca Jones of the BBC.

Caroline Elkins' book Imperial Reckoning exposes a grim period in recent British history. In the 1950s, British authorities in Kenya imprisoned thousands of Kikuyu people who were fighting to end colonial rule. Elkins talks with Jennifer Ludden.

Seattle writer Nancy Rawles has just published a novel called My Jim, a book that takes the character of the runaway slave Jim from Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and gives him a wife and a family.

Robert Siegel talks sports columnist and author Ron Rapoport about his new book, The Immortal Bobby: Bobby Jones and the Golden Age of Golf. In 1930, golf extraordinaire Jones achieved a string of victories that became known as the Grand Slam.

Scott Simon, host of NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday, talks about his debut novel, Pretty Birds. The story centers on a young Muslim woman who becomes a sniper during the height of the siege of Sarajevo in the early 1990s.

Historian Douglas Brinkley considers Ronald Reagan one of the top five American presidents of the 20th century. Brinkley is the editor of The Reagan Diaries.

Journalist Bradley Graham discusses the successes and failures of former secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld. Graham is the author of By His Own Rules, a lengthy new biography of Rumsfeld.

The New Yorker staff writer Jane Mayer discusses The Dark Side, her nonfiction account of the Bush administration's anti-terror policies. Mayer has been nominated for a 2008 National Book Award for the work.